Beyond Success Online

Sue Ingebretson’s BIO

Sue Ingebretson – BIO:
www.RebuildingWellness.com
www.FibroWHYalgia.com
www.Sue-Inge.com
(phonetic pronunciation – ING-gah-bret-son)

Sue Ingebretson is an author, speaker, certified holistic health practitioner and the director of program development for the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Center at California State University, Fullerton. She is also a Patient Advocate and the Fibromyalgia Expert for the Alliance Health community of health conditions website and a Fibromyalgia Editor for ProHealth.com

Her #1 Amazon bestselling book, FibroWHYalgia: Why Rebuilding the Ten Root Causes of Chronic Illness Restores Chronic Wellness, details her own journey from chronic illness to chronic wellness. She is also the creator of the FibroFrog – a therapeutic stress-relieving tool which provides powerful healing benefits with fun and whimsy.

She has been featured in FIRST for Women magazine, the nationally syndicated health TV program, Know the Cause!, and KABC radio. Her writing has appeared in various print and online publications. She has authored many books for Playbooks, Inc., a children’s publisher of instructional classroom books. Her book, Fabulous Food Detectives, teaches students to read food labels and discern the difference between whole and packaged foods.

Sue posts news and encouragements geared to promote positive lifestyle changes and healthy living on various social media sites. More information on her book, blog, and services can be found at http://www.RebuildingWellness.com/

http://rebuildingwellness.com/

In the Spotlight Interview

1. BSO: Please share with us your achievements at Rebuilding Wellness since your initial BSO interview in 2011.

Answering this question provides me with a welcomed opportunity to do some reviewing of where I’ve been and where I’m going. Sometimes, as entrepreneurs, it’s easy to become too close to our current perceived shortcomings and we forget all that we’ve accomplished.

I think that what I’ve accomplished is creating a business out of my “little entrepreneurial endeavor.” What I mean by that, is that I’ve created revenue from a variety of sources. When I began, I was focused on getting my book launched and building my platform as an author and speaker. I’ve done those things, and I’ve also introduced other revenue streams such as personalized coaching, workshops, writing for other publications and websites, and creating online programs.

It’s taken quite a while, but I’m finally feeling like I’m getting traction on creating sustainable income through a variety of areas.

2. BSO: Take us through a typical day, start to finish.

I’ve created a pretty distinct schedule that works for me for the week.

Mondays are my “writing” day. I begin every day by writing down my absolute “must do” tasks for the day. Then the rest of Monday morning is taken up by writing my blog, creating images for it, getting it loaded onto my site, etc. I also write for other publications, so there are typically looming deadlines to address. Interspersed throughout the day are meals, working out in my home gym and other errands.

On Tuesdays, my blog goes live and I focus on posting it to various social media accounts. I participate in social media every day. My Tuesday afternoons are completely taken up by hosting a tai chi class and a Bible study afterward. I’ve been meeting with the same group of women for more than 5 years and treasure this fitness and social opportunity.

Wednesday and Thursdays are my “client” days. I schedule my appointments throughout the day and hopefully get a break for working out and meals.

Fridays are my “catch up” day. I try to catch up with emails, take care of personal things like laundry, and usually continue to work on writing projects and creating new products.

That’s my week! (And, as a side note, I’m often writing and working on deadlines over the weekend. I’d love to minimize my weekend work hours and am working toward this goal.)

3. BSO: What has been the best advice you’ve received as your business has progressed?

The best advice I’ve received came from some podcast or some webinar I was listening to. Sometimes, we hear what we need to hear at the right time, and the source is not all that important or even memorable.

I happen to be an “information hound” meaning I’m always researching, learning, and gathering information and resources. This often results in analysis paralysis. The best advice I’ve received is this, “You already have everything you need to run your business. You either already have the answer you’re looking for, or it’s simple to find.”

This let me off the hook for always feeling like I didn’t have the answers or didn’t have the solutions.

4. BSO: What are your strategies for building awareness of Rebuilding Wellness for the short term and the long term?

In both the short and long term, I’ll continue to do what I’ve done, and that’s spread my content over social media networks. I’ve done well with this approach. I post my blogs and articles over mainly Facebook and Twitter. I also post to LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest.

The strategy I plan to implement soon is to add webinars to my repertoire. I’ve created many online courses and in order to market them strategically, I need to create webinars and develop strategic partnerships for multiplying my reach.

5. BSO: What is your proudest achievement?

I think my proudest achievement is to see that my book, FibroWHYalgia, has been a #1 Amazon chronic illness best-seller more than once. The reason this is quite a feat, is that I don’t have any big publisher behind me. I’ve never done any “artificial” marketing campaigns to manipulate my rankings, and my success has been purely organic and genuine.

One by one, people continue to purchase my book and recommend it to others. It’s as simple as that.

6. BSO: What charitable causes are most meaningful to you and why?

I’ve always been active in my church and because I’ve been on charitable services ministry boards, I feel I have a finger on the pulse of needs in my community. I donate to social services organizations that support families in need, women’s shelters, and children’s group homes.

I also feel that my health and wellness workshops are part of my ministry. I offer low-cost classes and also provide scholarships for those in financial need. It’s an honor for me to share my skills in teaching nutrition and stress-management fundamentals with my community. I do food demonstrations in local elementary schools, and teach workshops at churches and universities.

7. BSO: Who has been most influential toward your recent accomplishments?

I wish I could come up with one particular person or mentor, but I don’t have such a person.

For the past two years, I’ve really hunkered down and have been busy creating my online courses. It’s my plan to branch out into creating these classes so I have a wider reach while still being able to focus on my one-on-one clients. I’d like to multiply my efforts.

I’ve been pretty isolated in my business for the past couple of years, as I’ve mentioned. While I haven’t seen the fruits of my labor regarding my new programs right now, I have every confidence that I will very soon.

I do have several online marketing type of mentors that I have followed in the past or currently. A shortlist would be: Brendon Burchard, Pamela Bruner, Kathleen Gage, and Janis Pettit.

One significant influence I’ve had – which might not be common to others – is that I wish to spend more time with my grandchildren. It’s my plan to be able to multiply my efforts so I can take time off to do the things I want to do. I feel a time constraint to get this done (because they grow so quickly!), and I think this pressure is a good thing.

8. BSO: What is your advice for entrepreneurs who are 1-3 months away from launching their business?

My first bit of advice is to share with them that they probably know more than they think they do. Most entrepreneurs have an intuition or drive to work in a specific way that feels right to them. I urge them to follow their own tendencies. Not everyone is comfortable with social media. Not everyone is comfortable speaking to large groups, etc.

There’s value in stepping out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself, but over time, it becomes easier to see what areas of your business need your personal focus and what areas can be delegated to others.

I’d encourage them to find the niche and marketing methods that feel right to them and learn all they can about those methods. Later, they can branch out to do other things. It’s always a good idea to get help. Hiring a VA to do the things that you’d prefer not to do isn’t a failure — it’s simply a good business decision.